TV series " Xuanwumen " is currently being broadcast on Beijing Satellite TV. This epic masterpiece was filmed in 2017 and has been backlogged for many years. The cast of the show has gathered many powerful celebrities, but after it was broadcast, its popularity and reputation were both low. Appearing weak.
The story of "Xuanwumen" starts from the 24th year of Guangxu in 1898 to Japan's unconditional surrender in 1945, showing many historical events such as the Reform Movement of 1898, the Eight-Power Allied Forces' invasion of China, warlords' melee, and the Anti-Japanese War. At the beginning of the series, jade carving artist Li Yunmian ( Zhang Fengyi ) is ordered to carve the Kunlun jade into a unique jade pomegranate in the world. The main line of the story is Li Yunmian's son Li Tianshun (played by Ren Zhongren ). In order to protect this jade pomegranate, which symbolizes the prosperity of the country, with the help of the neighbors, he dealt with various forces and experienced countless hardships. Despite the twists and turns and disasters, even facing the loss of his family and his family, he never gave in and retreated.
The jade pomegranate in the play is a metaphor and an important story clue that connects the whole play. However, in order to highlight the importance of the jade pomegranate, "Xuanwumen" elevated the jade pomegranate to the extent that "it is said to be involved in the national destiny of China, and whoever becomes the owner of this jade can unify the country."
There is no shortage of screen historical themes that use various treasure-protecting legends to express the national spirit in the changing times. Historical dramas can have a legendary shell, but they must have the core of a serious drama, combining history with fiction. What they pay attention to is the creative principle of "doing the big things truthfully and the small things unobtrusively", following the historical truth in the overall plot framework, and pursuing the pursuit within the specific story space. dramatic.
"Xuanwumen" is based on real history as the story background, not a drama. This kind of "national treasure" story setting has no historical basis and is more suitable for appearing in fictional dramas. The legend of the jade pomegranate has a bit of fantasy at the beginning. If it were removed, it would be more in line with the realistic tone of the play. Some viewers commented on this: "In the late Qing Dynasty, the world was dominated by jade and pomegranates? How childish. Why did so many heads fall to the ground for a jade and pomegranate? It was so shocking."
The protagonists of "Xuanwumen" are all fictional folk figures. , the currently aired plot also includes real historical figures such as Tan Sitong, Cixi, and Ronglu. In the play, on the old street outside Xuanwumen, there are all kinds of characters, from birth to death to purity to mouchou. All the characters are facial makeup and have strong functionality. Siqin Gaowa and Zhang Fengyi co-starred. Known as "Hu Niu" and "Xiangzi", they reunited after 42 years. Both roles are highly completed. Unfortunately, the story of the characters and their own settings It looks thin. In addition, as the lead actor in the drama, Ren Zhong's performance is as if a modern person has traveled through time. Tong Lei 's performance in the early stages of the series is a stereotypical presentation of a heroine in a romantic drama. Wang Zijian's acting skills are not yet capable of supporting such an important role.
Judging from the story of the first unit, "Xuanwumen" still stays in the old plot mode. The story begins with a four-corner love triangle. From the beginning, it is about heroes saving beauties, beating up mandarin ducks, and mismatched marriages. The narrative style of many plots in the play is both old-fashioned and sloppy. For example, the heroine Huang Hexiang played by Tong Lei was wrongly imprisoned, and the villain charged Luo Zhi, who had never been married, with the villain, turned out to be for murdering her husband. Yang Shangde, a martial artist in Peking Opera, met Huang Hexiang only once, but in order to save others, he dared to deceive the emperor in front of the emperor and lied to Cixi that Huang Hexiang was his illegitimate daughter-in-law. This kind of plot is reasonable in a Zhamen drama, but it would be forced to be translated into a Qing palace drama.
In 2017, when "Xuanwumen" was filmed, the popularity of IPs such as fantasy and immortality was cooling down. On the other hand, the anti-corruption drama "In the Name of the People" with an all-acting cast was a great success, and realist original works began to rise. As a historical drama created with a lot of money, "Xuanwumen" obviously adheres to the creative idea of de-streaming. The series brings together actors such as Ren Zhong, Tong Lei, Zhang Fengyi, Siqin Gaowa, Wang Zijian, and Li Chengru. It relies on the Xuanwu Gate and uses the jade carving family's protection of jade national treasures as clues to show the changes in Chinese history and the fate of the country in recent years. .
But overall, "Xuanwumen", which was filmed seven years ago, has experienced "generational differences" and the creative concept cannot keep up with market changes.In the past seven years, the mainstream market has not only completed the transition to realistic themes, but has also continued to become more sophisticated in creation. Every creator is now trying to find ways to improve the authenticity and reality of the plot and polish it into high-quality products. It is becoming increasingly difficult for everyone to accept works with obvious loopholes in character logic and realistic logic. Audiences will only buy works that have a solid plot, rich characters, innovative perspectives, sharp expressions, reflect real life, and are logically rigorous without being too intellectual. In contrast, it is inevitable that those backlogged dramas with outdated stories, exaggerated plots and thin characters often become "acclimated" after being broadcast.
